Chilled to the Bone
by purefreckles
Summary: When Betty is just about to die, a strange man appears and saves her life. Now she's seeing things she never believed, and it's just getting started. What if this man happens to take her to the land of Ooo after the Apocalypse? What if she unexpectedly meets an old friend who doesn't remember her?
1. Into the Dark

**Into the Dark**

* * *

She trudged down the street, hands stuffed in pockets, breath looking like smoke in the freezing air. People scurried down the dank alleys, scavenging for things to eat. She walked faster, it wasn't smart to linger on the streets now. The facility loomed in front of her. She stepped through the doors, but even inside the people kept to the shadows, cringing when people looked. The stairs went so deep down, and she followed them into the dimly lit basement. She stepped into the lab briskly, but no one turned to greet her.

"Good day Ms. Petrikov," She went to correct him, but the unpleasant man was intent on his work, "You're late."

"I apologize sir, but there was a-"

"I don't care. Just go do your job." She went to sit down, and a familiar voice spoke gently to her.

"Don't worry about what he says, Betty, these are stressful times, and he knows that we won't be able to solve the worlds problems." She handed Betty some coffee.

"Thanks Cassandra." Betty smiled the best she could at Cassandra as she walked away.

Betty sipped at her coffee carefully, it tasted like tar but it was relatively warm, so she welcomed it. The screen blinked on and off, messages in computer code constantly changing, flashing in and out. It was hard to keep track of the days, for they were all the same. All she did was monitor this screen for hours on end, until someone could come to take her place. She didn't even know what she was supposed to be looking for.

Hours went by, and Betty's eyes became square and bloodshot. She could barely even register anything her senses told her. But something flashed on the screen, something different, she almost didn't catch it in time. It said "RUN FOR COVER". She blinked, she wasn't even sure what had happened. The alarms jolted her into reality. People panicked, and fled in all different directions. She stood and ran, joining people who were running for the escape pods. Someone tripped and fell, they tried to get up, but couldn't. They were trampled, buried beneath a scared crowd.

At this point, most of the pods had cast off, but there were still so many people left. Betty knew she wouldn't be able to make it to a pod in time. She turned into a room, and closed the door behind her. She was alone with the sirens blaring in her ears. She sunk to the floor, how she wished she had Simon there to hold her close. To comfort her when she was near death. But no more, that was an old story, not worth reminiscing. She was ready to die, they had been preparing for this for years. She crawled under a desk and curled up on the floor, ready for eternal slumber. All Betty felt was a rumble, and then everything went black.

xxx

It was so dark, Betty wasn't even sure if she was awake or not. Then the air filled her lungs, she coughed uncontrollably, gasping for air. She really just wanted to gulp the air down, swallow tons and tons of it, but her instincts told her better. She ripped of part of her dress and covered her mouth, standing up meekly, grasping at things she couldn't see. Her mind was whirling, she just wanted to get out of here, get out into the open air.

She tripped her way across the room, and tried the door. It was blocked from the outside. She pushed harder, and thats when she noticed the throbbing in her arm.

There was something in it, something hard and sharp protruding, she could feel the blood streaming down her arm now. Suddenly dizziness overcame her and she grasped at the door. She was trying desperately to stay awake, for she knew that it was her only chance of survival. If she lay to rest, then she wouldn't wake up again. She clung to the handle as if it was her consciousness, but her hand kept slipping just as her mind did.

_Oh Glob, hear me now, I don't want to die, please don't let me die, I may be the only hope for this world, I may be the last human, Oh Glob no, I'm slipping, don't let this happen, I promise to do good, to help this planet, Oh Grod please!_ The tears streamed down her face as she struggled for her life at the door. She heard a snap, and the whole door came crashing down. She stumbled on the rubble as she scrambled to her feet, clambering over things bent out of shape, glowing green.

She barely registered any of it, she just needed to get out of this heap of concrete. She didn't know if she was crying out or not, but she was most certainly on the inside. The radiation was almost too much to bear. Her head spun wildly out of control, her vision became a blur. Something kept hitting her thigh, something that was hanging limply from her right shoulder. Oh wait, that was her arm.

Then she saw it, a light, blinding and wonderful, a means of escape from this dark, radiated, hunk of scrap metal. She moved as fast as she could, trying not to trip but failing. Her left ankle was sprained, possibly broken, which did not help at all when trying to climb uphill through piles of broken concrete and metal and glass. She squirmed through the small hole, breathing in the toxic air, being scratched and cut by radiated bits of who knows what, and something most definitely stabbed her under the ribs.

She thought about what she would even do if she could wriggle her way out, everything would be radiated and she wouldn't be able to clean herself up. She would just die on the streets, a slow and painful death. But at least she would be in the sun; the warm, lovely, golden sun.

xxx

Betty was wrong. The sun was not warm nor lovely nor golden. In fact, it was nonexistent behind the cover of smoke and gas. She lifted the cloth to her face, and breathed in, but a blinding pain stopped her. She tried to move from the spot she was in, but it was too agonizing. So she sat, numb to the bone, unfeeling, unseeing, barely breathing. Her eyes drooped low, she was ready to die, there was nothing left, and she couldn't move. Her eyelids fell, and her head dropped back, and all she could hear was a distant whirring in her ears.

_Vworrrp Vworrrp Vworrrp Vworrp vworrp vworrp vworp vworp_... and it faded away.

A figure stood in smoke and dust, just a silhouette imprinted on her mind, the last thing she saw until she ascended into darkness yet again.


	2. Destroyed Worlds

**Destroyed Worlds**

* * *

The Doctor was once again on his own, and it was all his fault. He was anrgy at himself, but oh-so-sad at the same time. He banged the controls, running around franticly, randomly pressing buttons and flipping switches. He should never have gotten involved with Astrid in the first place, it would have been so much better for her._ What's the death count now, Doctor?_ voices in his head taunted, How many more to come?

"None! No more! NO more! I sware, I won't let another death happen if I can help it!" He yelled, holding back tears. He violently pulled a lever, and suddenly the whole TARDIS was spinning, round and round, falling into time and space. The Doctor panicked and pressed several more buttons, turning the spinning into toppling. He was thrown against his chair. The TARDIS eventually stabilized, and began to land. It jerkily materialized, not even on flat ground.

"Great. The parking's off. Wonderful." The Doctor grabbed his long coat and walked to the door, "Hmm, where have you brought me this time?" He opened the door and stepped out, only to immediately step back in.

"Whoa, gas mask, okay. A little warning next time would be nice." He strapped on his gas mask and strolled out, taking in the appearance of the destroyed area. The buildings were just piles of concrete rubble and twisted metal. Something had happened here, and it looked like bomb damage. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the area for anything alien, but found nothing. Just an ordinary human bomb, nothing out of place.

The Doctor sauntered over the ruins, fascinated. He wondered if this was World War II, or some other war. He picked up a peice of dirt and rubbed it between his fingers. No, this bomb was too advanced, it hadn't struck here, but it had obliterated this whole area. This bomb was far too powerful, as a matter of fact, it shouldn't even exist. He was far more attentive now, making sure he didn't miss a single thing, but it seemed that there wasn't really anything to miss.

He went to turn back, but something caught his eye. A spot of color in the smog, a red, shining feebly in the gloom. His feet moved without him knowing, for he was too busy assessing whatever it was. As he got closer, he noticed that the red was part of a body. Not just a body, but a woman, faintly breathing. There were shards of concrete and glass pertruding from her body. How she had survived these wounds, let alone the bomb, amazed him.

A little badge still clung to her jacket. The Doctor pulled it off and read it,

_Betty Petrikov, M.S._

_Full Clearance_

"So, we've got a scientist on our hands," He stared at her a moment, then whispered, "how in the world did you survive?"

xxx

The Doctor really didn't know what to do with her. He was afraid that if he moved her he might accidentally kill her. But he couldn't leave her out here with all of these toxic fumes floating around.

"Oh my God!" The Doctor had forgotten all about the fumes! He quickly went to take off his mask and give it to Betty, but a cackle broke in the air behind him. He spun around to see a crowned man emerge from behind some rocks, not eighty feet away. The man rose into the air, hovering above the ground, and a bluish glow developed around him. The air grew colder, if that was even possible, and a storm began to form overhead.

The Doctor scanned him multiple times, to no avail. He whacked his screwdriver and tried again, no luck. How could this man not be alien? He was a blue goblin-like creature, stuff of fairy tales. The goblin man approached the Doctor and Betty from above, shouting nonsense. The Doctor stood his ground, waiting for the goblin man. That is, until the goblin man began to pelt ice at him.

He really hadn't planned on moving Betty, but now he had no choice. He scooped her up from the debris, trying not to jolt her as best as he could. Then he ran.

The snow blew at his feet, quickly coating everything around him. Ice broke at his heels as the goblin man made near misses. Soon the snow was at his knees, and the wind lashed at his face. The goblin man gained on the Doctor as the snow drifts grew, and now they were only fifty feet apart.

His two hearts beat heavy in his chest as he ran, the cold air stinging his throat and lungs. His legs began to freeze, but he continued on, as he had in all of his battles.

His left leg gave out when he stumbled over something under the snow. He tumbled into the snow, Betty falling out of his arms into the white dust. He lifted up what he had tripped over, a stuffed bear, faded pink, patches all over. He lifted his head and looked straight into the eyes of a little girl. She was a strange one too, her clothes torn and dirty, and her face was a pale blue-green. But her eyes were the strangest of all, they were the color of blood, but were not bloodthirsty. They were calm, and showed maturity way beyond this little girl's years. Just like his.

She continued to stare at him as she made a snowball, very calmly. She waited, and with extreme precision, tossed it over her head. It glided smoothly through the turbulent air, and hit the crown dead on. The crown fell to the ground, and right after it was the goblin man.

"You should leave now," a quiet voice said to the Doctor. He turned, but the red eyed girl was already walking away. But he couldn't let her walk away without knowing what they were.

"What are you two?"

"Cursed." And that was all the reply he was going to get before she disapeared behind a mound of snow.

xxx

He stood there for nearly twenty seconds before he remembered that he had other things he needed to do. He waded through the deep snow to Betty. She was frosted in a layer of white, like some sleeping angel. He brushed her off and picked her up again. He carefully picked his way through the snow, on watch for the TARDIS.

When he spotted blue, he made his way toward it. It was half covered in snow, but it was definitely the TARDIS. The Doctor gently set Betty down in the snow, and cleared everything away from the doors, checking for damage at the same time. Once he was done he lifted Betty up yet again and brought her into the TARDIS.

The doors closed on the blue box, and the wind swirled the snow around it as it vanished into time and space itself.


	3. Awakening

_Vwoorp, Vwoorp, vwoorp, vworp, vworp…_

There was that sound again. Maybe something was wrong with her head, Betty thought. Maybe every time she fell asleep or woke up it would happen. It rang through her ears, and all she wanted to do was to grasp her head. Her body was numb though, it felt unattached from her mind. She had no idea of her surroundings, her eyes were crusted shut and hearing wasn't going to give her any real bearing.

She had no idea how long she laid there, barely conscious. The longer she lay though, the more she realized she was actually breathing. She was alive, and she was breathing air, wonderful, glorious air. She could soon feel the blood flowing through her veins, her heartbeat strong in her head. She soon began to wonder if she was upside down. It would explain the numbness in her arms and legs, and the headache she had acquired. She decided to find out.

xxx

The Doctor had no idea where he was going; he just knew he needed to get Betty to a hospital. He didn't have the medical training to treat her radiation poisoning, the best he could do was to keep her cool. He felt the TARDIS stabilize, and knew it had landed by the noise he was ever so fond of. The Doctor cracked the door and peeped out. Grass. That was all he could see. Plains stretching for miles upon miles. He sniffed the air; still Earth, but he had no idea what year or where.

Betty suddenly started writhing on the ground, the Doctor jumped back. He grabbed yet another ice pack and set it against her head, and she calmed down. There was crust around her eyes that he hadn't noticed before. He took a tissue and wiped it away, throwing it halfway across the room into a trash bin.

A banging on the door distracted him from his little victory. He walked to the door, slightly confused. No one usually noticed his little phone box, but then again, how could you miss a blue box in the middle of a field of grass.

He opened the door to a boy and his dog. The boy had his arms raised, sword in hand, about to strike. The Doctor hopped back, the swing missing him by millimeters.

"Sorry sir, Finn just gets a little excited by new stuff." The Doctors eyes widened and he grinned.

"You're a talking dog! That's just brilliant! What planet did you come from?" The Doctor crouched down and ruffled the fur on its head. Finn snickered.

"Uh, Earth. And could you please stop doing that head thing?" The dog swatted at the Doctors hand.

"Really, Earth? Well maybe you don't know any better," He muttered. He then remembered the situation at hand and stood up briskly, towering over the boy and the dog, "I need some help, well not me, but a friend, well not exactly a friend, but that's beside the point. Wait here." The two boys were curious when the man stepped back inside the box and closed the door. So they snuck inside to take a look at whatever that man could be doing in such a small thing.

xxx

A cool hand touched Bettys face. It wiped away the crust around her eyes, but she still din't have the strength to open them. She was in great, unbearable pain. Trying to move had made it even worse. Footsteps echoed through her mind, she even thought she heard a door. But it couldn't be. She had been outside, and no one could have survived that blast. But she had. Maybe someone else could have too.

Suddenly there was that hand on her face again, but it was gone as soon as it came. She could sware she could hear the voice of a child and a man, no, two men. It must have been in her head, she was dying, slowly but surely.

xxx

"This is totally awesome!" Finn yelled, running around the TARDIS like a maniac.

"Beep-bop-boop!" Jake said as he pressed buttons, arms encircling the console.

"Don't touch that! Stop!" The Doctor quickly grabbed the human and the dog by their arms and pushed them out of the TARDIS, "I said wait here! Why does no one ever listen to me?" He slammed the doors and rushed back inside.

He lifted Betty from the cold hard floor and into his arms. He opened the door with his back and slipped out.

"Okay, boys, could you direct me to the nearest hospital?" The boys exchanged wide-eyed glances, then nodded.

"It's not exactly a hospital, but it's the best we can think of. Hopefully PB's avaliable, if not I guess we should go see Dr. Princess ." said Finn, as he led the way forward.

"PB? Doctor Princess?"

"Princess Bubblegum. She's more of a scientist, but I'm pretty sure she can do the job. I'm not realy that familiar with Dr. Princess but I've heard that she's pretty good." Finn said, as if the Doctor should have known who these people were. Then Finn turned to the dog, "Jake, I think we could get there a little quicker if you-"

"-I got you buddy." Then Jake began stretching to an enourmous size, catching the Doctor and Finn under him. "Let's go."

And thus they set off, the Doctor sitting speechless on the gigantic dog's back, and the boy making aimless conversation with the dog. But yet, there were still wonders to come for the Doctor, and he didn't really have that long to wait.

**[Sorry for taking so long, but summer break just started and I've been pretty busy. The next chapter should be up sooner than this one was, but I really can't promise anything. Hope you guys are enjoying this so far!]**


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